>> The people who ride mules to Phantom Ranch go down Bright
>> Angel, overnight, and take Kaibab up the next day
>Todd McComb writes ...
>
>The mule route goes along Bright Angel in the upper canyon,
>and along South Kaibab in the inner gorge. They walk between
>the two along the Tonto Trail that intersects Bright Angel at
>Indian Gardens.
Nope, you're wrong ... the 4 mile stretch of the Tonto between Kaibab
and BA is unmaintained and isn't used by mules. The only time they
might use this stretch is if the trail has washed out and is being
repaired, but that would be a short-time situation until they get the
trail fixed. Usually the washouts occur in the shale above Indian
Gardens, not below it in the tapeats and granite where the rocks erode
more slowly.
>They follow this same route in both directions.
Wrong again, they descend Bright Angel one day and come up Kaibab the
next day. I've passed them on my ascent up Kaibab at least 50 times
over the years. There's a small corral at the top of Kaibab where the
mules are kept before transporting back to the main stable near Bright
Angel.
> As you might have heard, the mules won't cross the silver
>bridge.
They go down Bright Angel to the river, then take a traverse trail
known as "River Trail" for a couple of miles past the first bridge to
reach the upriver bridge, where they cross. Mules won't cross the
downstream bridge (silver bridge) because it has a steel grating and
they can see the river below but the upstream bridge has a dark cover
over the grating so they can't see the river below and they cross here
without incident.
Bill
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